ENCROACHMENTS ON TRAILS ARE TARGETED

John ChaseCHICAGO TRIBUNE

DuPage County officials have sent out 90 letters to landowners informing them they may have planted flowers, placed sheds or built fences along the county's two major nature trails -- the Illinois Prairie Path and Great Western Trail.

Assistant DuPage County State's Atty. Anna Harkins, who is heading the county's 2-year-old effort to stop the intrusions, said the county is giving the landowners a month to respond. They can challenge the county's position or accept it and offer to take down the so-called encroachments at their expense, she said.

"This is still preliminary," Harkins said. "We don't want to give out anybody's name or address if it turns out there still aren't violations."

In 1999, an informal survey done by the county Division of Transportation found more than 200 possible encroachments on trail property. The county took the most serious offenses to determine to whom to send the letters.

The landowners' responses have varied, Harkins said.

"Some have said they will take it down right away," she said. "Others have said they are never going to take it down."

Members of the County Board's Transportation Committee last month said they prefer that there be a uniform approach on the matter once there is a determination of a violation.

But County Administrator Donald Zeilenga said the county might consider making deals in cases in which a severe hardship might result for a homeowner.

"If there's somebody who bought a house and this encroachment is going to create a financial burden for an individual homeowner, maybe we can work something out," he said.